Lighting – Week 5

This week saw me give an ‘elevator pitch’ (see my other post on my pitch), and begin to use studio lighting.

This was challenging for a few reasons but mainly it was using new equipment and understanding the concept of lighting. We used a large light on a stand, in a room with no other light source. The light had a bulb so the photographer can see his subjects ‘set-up’, and a power level of flash which could be tested.

To set up a subject in this environment I first decided on the settings of my camera I wanted, for which I chose f5.6, ISO 100 and 1/60 of a second shutter speed. I then placed my subject where I wanted them, away from the light source. Next, I set a light meter to match my shutter speed and held it on my subjects face. Testing the flash gave me the reading of what f-stop I would need to get an even exposure, if the number was low I would turn up the power of my flash as this meant the subject looked too dark. Visa versa if the f-stop suggested was more than f5.6 I would turn the power of the flash down a half-stop or so until the flash reading on the meter matched the settings I wanted for my photo.

This meant I could move wherever I wanted to in the room, toward and away from my subject, as long as they did not move in relation to the light, the settings were perfect. However if the subject did move, this set-up process would have to be repeated.

I also could not go over a shutter speed of 1/250 of a second as this would make the flash affect only some of the image before the shutter came down again. This was made easier as the flash connected physically to my camera with a wire.